Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians

Lopato, David

Lopato, David, composer, pianist, educator;

He's played piano for 45 years, synthesizer for 18 years, done MIDI sequencing for 18 years, played acoustic bass for 8 years, Javanese gender, bonang, gambang, Sundanese and kendang for 18 years and percussion (mallet instruments, hand drums) for 20 years. Rooted primarily in the jazz tradition, he is also involved with various world musics, most notably those of Indonesia, where he has lived and studied Javanese gamelan. He has also worked extensively with computer-generated sound, in the contexts of both popular and avant-garde musics. His passion for writing, verbal expression and humor has recently led him to incorporate monologues, in addition to music, into his performing repertoire.

His studies include a B.A. in music composition from Yale University, graduate studies in African drumming at California Institute of the Arts and Javanese gamelan at Akademie Seni Krawitan in Surakarta, Indonesia. He's studied composition with Robert Morris and David Mott, 1972-75 and composition with Earle Brown, 1975-76. He has performed his own compositions throughout the world as a soloist, leader of his own trio, quintet and the ten-piece ensemble, Global Download, which performs compositions influenced by both eastern and western musics. Major venues include broadcasts on WDR, NOS, VPRO, Radio France, and National Public Radio, performances at De Singel, Stedelijk Museum, Kroller-Muller Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen Center, Symphony Space and The Vancouver Jazz Festival. As a pianist, he has worked with Steve Reich, Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Lovano, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Jane Ira Bloom, Steve Gorn and David Mott among others. He has performed at the Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo; Jameos Del Agua, Lanzarote, Spain; De Singel, Antwerp; Barnsdall Museum, Newport Harbor Arts Museum, Los Angeles; New Langton Arts, San Francisco; The Kitchen Center, Roulette, The Museum of Modern Art, Symphony Space, NYC and The Vancouver Jazz Festival, Vancouver, Canada.

Lopato has written music for television, theater, documentaries and commercials, and collaborated with the poet Ruth Danon and the Dutch painter Roland Schimmel. His piece "Jauk" was performed by The Balinese American Dance Theater. He's also written, orchestrated and/or arranged numerous scores for documentaries, industrials, and commercials, 1990 to present. His expertise in the realm of MIDI programming has enhanced recording projects for such clients as Sony Classical and Daichi Kosho Japan. He is also the producer of the concert series at InHouse, a performance space in downtown Manhattan devoted to modern improvised music.

His teaching experience includes being on the faculty in the The Jazz and Contemporary Music dept. and Parsons School of Design, The New School University. He's an instructor in composition, jazz theory, performance, computer sequencing, film scoring and interdisciplinary studies (computer animation and music composition) since 1991. He's been a private instructor in music composition and piano, New York City, 1985- . He conducts workshops and master classes in composition and improvisation in the U.S. and abroad, 1985-. He also co-teaches a course on interdisciplinary arts entitled "Sound and Vision" at Parsons School of Design.